Tasting Favorites

By guest author, Jenna Riggan - SSU Wine Sense goes to Argentina! We kick-started spring break with a special presentation of five Argentinean wines. SSU students enjoyed exploring new and different wine styles, accompanied by an internationally inspired menu. Our two chefs grilled two large pork loins, served with chimichurri sauce, multi colored potato salad, and dulce de leche crepes. Favorite Wines  The first favorite wine of the evening won by a landslide. This 2011 Crios de Susana Balbo Rose of Malbec ($11.99) from the Mendoza region of Argentina wowed tasters with its bright red color, and just a touch of [...]

The Spring semester got off to a great start when Toad Hollow Winery agreed to host the first SSU WineSense Club tasting.  A total of 46 millennials showed up that evening to learn more about the wines from this Sonoma County winery located in Healdsburg (http://www.toadhollow.com/). The students tasted and toasted to six Toad Hollow wines along with scrumptious food pairings.  The wines included:  2010 Chardonnay - Mendocino County, 2011 Rose of Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, 2009 Pinot Noir - Russian River Valley, 2006 Pinot Noir Reserve - Russian River Valley, 2007 Merlot - Russian River Valley, and NV Risque [...]

Over thirty Millennials showed up to taste the award winning wines of Williamson Winery this past week.  Located in Sonoma County with a tasting room on the Healdsburg Plaza and their famous Home Ranch Vineyard in the Dry Creek AVA, Williamson is primarily known for big reds, such as syrah, zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon.  However, they also source fruit from other locations and it was these wines that appealed most to the Millennials tasters. Favorite white wine of the evening was the Williamson Winery Joy Sauvignon Blanc ($28) from the North Coast.  It had a fresh grapefruit nose with some [...]

Distinctive chardonnays came out on top at the first SSU Wine Sense Club tasting of the semester.  Imagery Winery’s “2009 White Burgundy ($29)” received the most votes as the favorite wine.  A full-bodied chardonnay with a small amount of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Meunier in the blend everyone enjoyed the tropical fruit flavors and bright crispness.  Other Imagery wines tasted included a Malbec, Sangiovese and Sauvignon Blanc.  Imagery Winery, located in Sonoma Valley, is renown for its artistic blends and beautiful labels featuring a different California artist each year.  For more information see http://www.imagerywinery.com/.  The SSU WineSense Board had to [...]

Research studies have shown that in addition to dry red and semi-sweet white wines, another favorite category of Millennials is sparkling wine.  With this in mind, the SSU Winesense Tasting Club sponsored a “Battle of the Bubblies” evening and invited Korbel and Gloria-Ferrer to share some of their exciting sparkling wines.   Korbel Champagne Cellars Headquartered in the Russian River AVA, Korbel was established in 1882 and is the oldest continually operating champagne house in North America.  Head winemaker, Erica Mandl, providing fascinating commentary on the history of the winery, as well as production information on the 4 wines she [...]

Another sold out night at SSU’s Winesense tasting this week.  This time the lure was big reds offered by Ridge Vineyards of Dry Creek Valley and Topel Winery, located in southern Mendocino county.  Seven wines were served with some spicy and robust food pairings.  From Ridge Vineyards, the favorite of the evening was the 2008 Buchignani Ranch Carignane ($26).  This was a big earthy wine with dark red fruit and spice.  Everyone also enjoyed the grenache and zinfandels, but the distinctiveness of the carignane caused it to be a run-away favorite.  For more information, see http://www.ridgewine.com/.  From Topel Winery, it [...]

Most wine research confirms that the Millennials have been driving new growth in the US wine industry over the past 5 years.  Research also suggests that they enjoy red wine and sweeter white wines.  This latter fact proved to be true in an informal wine tasting experiment in Bus 305W this semester at Sonoma State University.  Forty-three Millennials tasted 6 white wines as part of our introductory tasting session this semester.  The wines included chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, chenin blanc, riesling, gewürztraminer and muscat, and were tasted in order of increasing sugar.  At the conclusion of the tasting, before brands or [...]

When I arrived at SSU’s Winesense Tasting this week, I was surprised to see a note on the door saying “sold-out; no more seats available.”  This was exciting because it was a testament to the wonderful wines that were served that evening from the Sonoma Coast Appellation.   Over 50 Millennials crowded the room to listen to winemakers Darrin Low of Flowers Vineyard and Paul Clary of Clary Ranch.  Both wineries specialize in growing grapes that crave the cooler climates of the Sonoma Coast AVA.  Flowers is situated near the Pacific Ocean and is famous for its pinot noirs and chardonnay, [...]

It’s hard to believe that there are more than 6,000 wineries in the US now.  Of those, more than 50% are small family wineries crafting hand-made wines, contributing to our economy, and providing lovely vineyard landscapes to beautify America.  Larson Family Winery, located in the Carneros and Sonoma Valley AVAs of Sonoma County, is one of these precious small family wineries.   Founded in the 1800’s, the winery only sells direct to consumers via their tasting room, wine club, and online wine shop (http://www.larsonfamilywinery.com/).  They poured 5 wines for a sold-out crowd of more than 40 millennials at this week’s SSU [...]

A warming glass of port is always a good choice for the winter holidays – especially when paired with decadent desserts.  The SSU Wine Sense Club was able to experience this recently with a tasting of 5 special dessert wines made by Trentadue Winery in Geyersville, California.  See: http://www.trentadue.com/. The Basics of Making Port The tasting was hosted by Assistant Winemaker, Shane Ryan, who described how they grow the grapes and make the wine in this Alexander Valley AVA of Sonoma County.  Port is made differently than still wine in that the grapes are typically picked at a higher degree [...]

We had a full house at Thursday night’s tasting entitled “Sparkling and Big Reds,” featuring Artesa and Karly Winery.  However, red wines seemed to rule the night again, as only one sparkling wine was offered along with a dessert muscat.  Generally these two wine styles would sweep the crowd as favorites, but not with this big red loving group. Artesa Winery Artesa Winery, located in Carneros, started off with exciting offerings of pinot noir, tempranillo, and cabernet sauvignon.  Sarah Helmers, Manager of Consumer Direct Sales, described wine making techniques and appellations of these exciting wines.  The favorite Artesa wine of [...]